THE NTUNGOOLOOYA, OR KINGFISHER
Perched on a limb of a tree by the bank of a river was a kingfisher of a
beautiful deep blue color. His head was ornamented with a crest of long
blue feathers with white rings. This crest he could erect or lower at
will.
“Here I am on a good vantage ground,” said he, “where I can look for
prey. Small fish is the food I live upon. Sometimes I have to wait long
before I get a meal. Oh, how hungry I am! I hope some little fishes will
come my way. I can do nothing with the big ones, as I am a tiny bird.”
The little kingfisher waited for his breakfast, looking carefully at the
water.
Once in a while he saw a small fish, and watched, hoping that he would
come to the surface; but several times he was disappointed. His crest
stood erect every time he became excited and watched a fish in sight,
and made ready to pounce upon him. He said to himself: “I have a long
beak to enable me to get my living. I can dip into the water and get at
the fish with it. My legs are very short, and of no use except to perch
with.” Two or three times he left his perch, and hovered over fish, his
wings fluttering quickly. He appeared almost upside down; but the fish
was too deep in the water for him to reach, and after hovering about a
while over them, he returned to his watching-place, feeling disappointed
and more hungry than before, for the sight of the fish whetted his
appetite.
While he was waiting, a shoal of little fish in the middle of the stream
were swimming away from the big fish, who had come among them and were
gobbling them as fast as they could. The little fish said: “Let us swim
as fast as we can to the bank of the river for protection, for these
horrid big fishes will not be able to pursue us in the shallow water.”
In their flight they were pursued by the big fish, and a great number
gobbled up. In their panic they leaped above the water in order to
escape; but fish cannot remain in the air, so as they fell into the
water again, many disappeared in the big mouths of their pursuers. Soon
the more fortunate ones were out of the big fishes’ reach!
While the kingfisher was waiting for prey, and the little fishes were
swimming toward the land, a long slender snake whose life was chiefly
spent in the thickets and bushes, preying upon birds and eating their
eggs, saw the kingfisher, and said: “I must crawl toward this bird and
have him for my morning meal. A great gift has been given to me—I am
green and of the color of the leaves, so that I can get my living;
because thus I am able to approach birds without being seen by them. But
I must be wary, for all the winged creatures are afraid of us green
snakes.”
[Illustration: [Kingfisher]]
The snake wound along from branch to branch, never losing sight of the
little blue kingfisher, his cunning eyes glittering with joy, for he
thought he was sure of his prey, and he said, “Soon I am to enjoy a nice
breakfast.”
The kingfisher was unaware that one of his worst enemies was coming
toward him, and he kept up his watch. Fortunately for him, the shoal of
little fish came in sight just in the nick of time, and they were the
cause of his life being saved.
The snake was preparing to coil round the kingfisher when suddenly the
bird flew after one of the little fish, succeeded in capturing it, and
then flew away with his booty to another tree.
Great indeed was the wrath of the snake when he saw that his prey had
escaped him, and he said angrily: “I was sure of a breakfast, but it has
flown away and nothing is certain till one gets it; but I will wait
here, for surely the kingfisher will come back.”
He waited and waited, but the pretty little kingfisher did not return.
Little did the latter know that he owed his life to the shoal of little
fish upon which he had preyed.